Only a few ingredients are needed to create this mango and avocado salsa, which was made for the party by Gazette-Journal employee Becky Lazos. Chips and a dip are a must for any Super Bowl party. Photo by Betty Wrenn Day

The day when the Super Bowl is played is now considered by some a de facto American holiday known as Super Bowl Sunday. It is the second largest day for food consumption in the U.S., after Thanksgiving. To help our readers prepare for the fun, the Gazette-Journal staff held a pre-Super Bowl XLVIII party and are sharing the recipes, in time for you to enjoy the game on Sunday.

Looking to past Super Bowl games and to professional football players from our area, we find Stuart Anderson of Mathews playing for the Washington Redskins as a linebacker in two Super Bowl games. In 1983 when the Redskins won over the Miami Dolphins and in 1984 when the Washington Redskins lost to the Los Angeles Raiders. Anderson spent two seasons with the Redskins 1982-1984, 1984 with the Cleveland Browns, and returned to Redskins in 1985.

Jamie Wilson of Gloucester spent three years as a professional as a backup offensive lineman first with the Carolina Panthers (2 years) and then with the Indianapolis Colts following his graduation from Marshall University in West Virginia.

Mark Royals of Mathews holds the longest career in the game of professional football, as a punter for 15 years. Mark began with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1987. The same year he moved to the St. Louis Cardinals. From 1990-1991 he was punting for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Then in 1992-1994 he went with the Pittsburgh Steelers but 1995-1996 found Mark playing for the Detroit Lions. Several more changes were in the future for Mark: 1997-1998 the New Orleans Saints, 1999-2001 back to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2002-2003 the Miami Dolphins and winding up his career in 2003 with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

B.W. Webb, a defensive back for the Dallas Cowboys, is a Newport News native, but one half of his family is from Mathews; his mother Avis Smith Webb, aunt Gloria Smith Carter, uncle William J. Smith and grandfather William J. Smith Sr. Everyone will be waiting to watch Webb’s blocking and tackling in the 2014 season as he plays his second year with the Cowboys.